Only If For A Night
by KoreNestis
Summary: Written initially for a Tumblr prompt and inspired by the Florence The Machine song of the same name. Ellayria Lavellan is with those celebrating her great triumph against Corypheus, but is not among them. Cole helps her see what could lay ahead.


And I heard your voice as clear as day,  
>And you told me I should concentrate ,<br>It was all so strange,  
>And so surreal,<br>That a ghost should be so practical.

The energy pulsating through the air was so vibrant and full of joy, Ellayria could almost see it. All around her, people danced and sang and celebrated being alive for a little while longer. They saw her as some holy figure that had saved them all from the end of days; she would never quite get used to that. It was strange to have so many smiling and praising her, when before they would sneer and call her a knife-ear, or something similarly derogatory. They would not understand the exhaustion that seeped into her very bones, as she was at last accepting that it was over. It was _finally _over. She had brought Corypheus down, and until the next catastrophe reared its ugly head, they were safe for the moment.

Everyone was basking in their victory, and seeing them all there with her warmed her, almost enough to fill the emptiness her mentor had left behind. No one had caught sight of Solas since after the battle, when Ellayria had broken the orb. The image was still freshly imprinted in her mind: his agonized expression as he turned to her, standing from where the orb lay shattered at his feet. "It was not supposed to happen this way," he'd whispered. Those were the last words he had spoken to her before he vanished without a trace. She had witnessed him standing at the top of the stairs after she'd descended to greet the rest of their companions; when she'd looked back, he was gone. The man who had taught her so much about their people and of magic and the Fade, whom she had come to trust completely…gone.

It hurt more than she cared to admit, and dampened all that they had accomplished that night. All that _she _had accomplished, they all insisted, but she refused to hear it. She would not be standing here, grinning halfheartedly and shaking hands with nobles, without all they had given. She wouldn't be knocking back a pint and almost immediately coughing it back up with the Iron Bull if he hadn't smashed countless foes into bloody puddles before they could reach her. She wouldn't be laughing as Varric recounted some tale of his adventures with the Champion of Kirkwall; his spike traps and his beloved crossbow had proved invaluable. Though some frowned upon the practice, Ellayria was immensely grateful with Dorian's necromancy skills by her side, as they had turned the tide of a fight more than once. He'd given his fellow mage a huge hug when she had come up Skyhold's steps and quipped, "I never doubted you for an instant. Though you would be a good deal less banged up if you'd taken me along, you ridiculous fool. Tevinter knows best when it comes to Tevinter, obviously." She'd rolled her eyes and pushed him playfully in the shoulder.

She stuck her tongue out at Sera, thanked her three advisers from the bottom of her heart for all they had done, chatted with the elegant Madame de Fer on the future of magic and mages everywhere, and congratulated Cassandra on her appointment as Divine. Her emerald eyes continuously scanned the crowd for the only person she wished to see, however, and grew anxious when she could not find him.

She at last picked his form out, crouched behind a table near the wall. He was moving his hand, but she couldn't figure out what he was doing due to the obstruction and his wide brimmed hat. She picked her way through the throng of people, who graciously moved aside for the fabled Herald of Andraste. She came around the table and approached the boy, and smiled when she saw that he had made another furry friend. Animals naturally took to Cole, and the cats of Skyhold especially seemed to adore him. Ellayria listened closely, and heard him speaking softly the scrawny black and white feline as he fed it table scraps. It scarfed the morsels of food eagerly and rubbed against his pale hand, purring. His gentle laugh was more music to her ears than the strumming of the bard's lute a couple of feet away in the great hall.

He turned to look at her over his shoulder, beaming. "I think I like cats better than people."

Ellayria giggled and crouched beside him, offering her hand out to the cat. "I think I could understand that one." It sniffed at her and rubbed against her as happily as it had with Cole. The hollowness she had been feeling since sending Corypheus into the Fade suddenly wasn't so bad. Just Cole's presence was all she needed sometimes; he was her comfort place, something he had always gladly offered while expecting nothing in return. She could never thank him enough for all he had done simply for being _there._

He watched her interact with the animal, his expression peaceful, serene. His hand interlaced with her free one. "So friendly. They don't care who you are or what you look like. So long as you're nice and feed them, they're happy." He looked back at her. His blue eyes, so clear and bright, turned somber. "I'm sorry. I don't know why he left. He burned with regret, thinking all is lost. He doesn't know how to make it right again. It wasn't your fault, and he does not blame you. But he is distraught, and feels ashamed." He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "He was a good man."

She nodded, staring down at the cat, who placed its paws on her knees and stood its hind legs. It bumped her face with its head, its eyes almost closed in happiness. She grinned, for its sake. "Yes, he was. I just hope he finds the redemption he was seeking, somehow." Suddenly, she couldn't stand being in the hall anymore, surrounded by so many strangers who only knew the icon, the Herald.

"It is very loud in here," Cole agreed. "So many voices, it's like an ocean of sound. I don't want to hear it anymore either." He gave the cat a final scratch behind the ears and stood. She rose automatically with him. The cat meowed in protest, but ran off in search of more food. He gazed intently at her. "You wish to be alone."

She smiled shyly at him. "Not entirely." He smiled back. Creators, how sweet he looked, his blue eyes twinkling in the firelight, his gap toothed grin stretched wide. It made her ache. She pulled his hand, and he followed with a lithe sort of grace that she envied. Even after becoming more human, he still moved with an almost otherworldly gait, and it amazed her how such a kind soul could be so lethal. As they slid through the people towards the door to her quarters, she recalled marveling at him in combat, how he could disappear and reappear so effortlessly, more often than not with his daggers impaled in the back of an enemy. Just as quickly as he came, he would vanish again. She worried initially about him getting hurt, with the light leathers that he wore, but then saw that their foes could never _catch him. _He reminded her of the great cats he had seen hunting in the mountains surrounding Skyhold, the white furred ones with the black spots and blue eyes. Josephine had told her they were called snow leopards, and Ellayria found the comparison striking, and oddly exciting.

She heard him chuckle amusedly behind her as she turned the door handle, and knew he was listening. She couldn't help but mirror him, her spirits high; quite the opposite of earlier. "That must be why you like cats so much," she teased.

She felt him squeeze her hand again, and heard him close the door. They began climbing the stairs. "But I am not a cat." He sounded confused, though still laughed with her. "I don't have fur or claws. I wish I could purr, though. And they sound so cute when they meow."

She giggled. "I think so too." she agreed. She could practically feel his questioning expression boring into her back, but he didn't ask for a further explanation.

They finally made it into her room when she turned and took both of his hands, toughened from dagger hilts, into hers. "You are Cole, and that is precisely who I fell in love with," she said softly. He smiled, and leaned in, his eyelashes fluttering as his eyes closed. She stood on her tiptoes a bit to meet his soft, pink lips. All of it crashed over her then, like a strike of lightning: they were both alive to see another day, and the future was frighteningly open and full of possibilities. It amazed her, and yet, she knew it would be wonderful, so long as she had him beside her. Almost in response, Cole suddenly pulled her into the warmth and security of his arms, and their kiss intensified with so much feeling and emotion that it took her breath away.

What felt like an eternity later, they broke apart, their foreheads touching. He stroked her cheek, and the way he looked at her nearly made her tear up. His face overflowed with love, pure unconditional love, and she felt she could finally celebrate what they had achieved that night. "We have tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that," he whispered, his voice as tender as velvet. "I want you to be in all of them." He suddenly looked uncertain, and she knew why.

"I will," she promised, and his lips opened timidly in relief. She pulled away and led him to her bed. She thought she had never felt more alive than in that moment, until he brought her up against him again and began trailing heated kisses down her neck and shoulder. Feeling his sleek, strong body against hers left her breathless, her heart racing and her veins feel like wires of electricity within her. She grabbed his collar and fell backwards; he happily followed, his hand braced against her back as she hit the bed. Even then, he attempted to protect her from harm. She grinned as he settled on top of her and claimed her lips again, his tongue hungrily plunging through to dance with hers. She wound her fingers through his white blond hair and surrendered, body and soul, to him.

Ellayria slowly came back into consciousness as the first rays of sunlight drifted lazily through the window into her room. She sighed in contentment as she felt Cole nuzzle his face into her neck, wrapping his wiry, pale arm more securely around her waist. She watched sleepily as the sun gradually woke with her, spooning with the still slumbering ghost boy and relishing the sensation of his flesh against hers, knowing that he was _real_, that he was _there. _She used to be so afraid of him disappearing one day and never reappearing again, and he had promised her, as solemnly as only he could, that it would never happen. She still worried sometimes, but she knew he had and never would lie to her, and would not make a promise he did not believe he could keep.

Eventually she got a bit restless and carefully unwound the leanly muscled limbs from her person. She rose and wrapped herself in her bedrobe, walking out onto the balcony. She leaned her arms on the threshold and watched Skyhold come alive below her. The voices that mumbled up at her sounded happy, for once, and she was thankful for that. She wondered what everyone was going to do now, now that the enormous threat that had been Corypheus was gone. Would some remain and continue on with the Inquisition's work? Would they go back to their families and other countries and keep on as before? _So much is uncertain, _Ellayria thought as she gazed up at the scar in the sky where the Breach had been. _How is the clan doing? I miss my mama and sisters. _They would welcome her back with open arms, she knew, and her heart yearned to see them again.

She stood fully, a visit to Clan Lavellan already spinning in her mind, when she felt those familiar arms encircle her once more, her back to his chest. "Could I…come with you?" Cole asked.

"Of course you can," she whispered back. He nestled in the crook of her neck and watched the sun continue to rise with her, and she found she was excited to see what lay ahead. She would not be alone, she knew, in starting a new beginning, no matter what that beginning may be.


End file.
